Baby boomers in their 60s who are reaching retirement age have some serious economic concerns that may be tethering them to their jobs. Persistent inflation and the rising cost of living can make even the most disciplined planners second-guess retirement.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s the fact that the retirement savings landscape in the U.S. looks different depending on how you measure it.<\/p>\n
According to data from Empower (1), the median retirement account balance for those in their 60s is $544,439 \u2014 not so great when you consider that most Americans believe they\u2019ll need $1.26 million<\/a> to retire comfortably (2).<\/p>\n In fact, 70% of pre-retirees over 50 are considering or delaying their planned retirement date, according to a 2025 survey from F&G Annuities & Life, Inc. (3).<\/p>\n While 48% are worried they won’t have enough money for retirement and 50% of those polled cite wider financial uncertainties or economic volatility as the reason they are considering unretiring or pushing back retirement (up by 10% from 2024), that also leaves another 50% of pre-retirees who are staying in the workforce for other reasons.<\/p>\n Underscoring non-financial reasons for delaying retirement is that earlier Empower data showing the average retirement balance is $1,190,078, reflecting a large pool of savers with a high income who are much closer to that \u201cmagic\u201d $1.26 million financial retirement goal (1).<\/p>\n This reflects a shift in thinking about retirement as a fixed finish line \u2014 one not just based on financial readiness \u2014 as this generation rewrites the rules to find purpose, identity, social connection and flexibility while working through their golden years.<\/p>\n A recent report from 24\/7 Wall Street outlines the many reasons that boomers are delaying retirement and finding gratification in continued work (4).<\/p>\n For one, they are choosing work for fulfillment, or finally trying their hand at more creative fields than their original career. Others find that the social rewards of working are better than staying at home.<\/p>\n Work driven by purpose, a trend that\u2019s usually attributed to Gen Z, is actually more popular among this older demographic. LinkedIn reports that \u201cBoomers are 75% more likely than Zoomers to prioritize their own personal values when choosing a job (5)\u201d.<\/p>\n Read More: The average net worth of Americans is a surprising $620,654. But it almost means nothing. Here\u2019s the number that counts (and how to make it skyrocket)<\/a><\/p>\n The AARP reports that 25.8% of businesses were started by people over the age of 50 in 2018. That\u2019s almost double the rate reported in 1996 (6). Boomers were also more likely to re-enter the workforce during the pandemic, with 13.2% of retirees returning to work in 2023 (7).<\/p>\n These changing trends in retirement may impact younger Americans.<\/p>\n To start, the shifting of full retirement age from 66 to 67 for boomers born after 1960 sets a precedent for the government continuing to delay full SSA benefits for older adults (8). Additionally, the widely-reported underfunding of the SSA program is anticipated to leave today\u2019s younger workers in a lurch when retirement time comes \u2014 and today\u2019s retirees are less motivated to make changes to the program to benefit younger generations (9).<\/p>\n Boomers staying in the job market may also impact younger workers, as the current \u201clow hire, low fire\u201d trend makes it more difficult for younger job seekers to enter the workforce (10).<\/p>\n With all this in mind, the default \u201cretire at 65\u201d mentality may need a rethink \u2014 especially if you\u2019re under 50. Working with a financial advisor, making a vision for your retirement can help you make a realistic plan for your finances and desired lifestyle, regardless if you expect to stop working in your 60s or carry on as long as you\u2019re healthy.<\/p>\n It can be difficult to project how you\u2019ll feel at 65 if you\u2019re currently in your 20s, 30s or 40s. Still, plan for flexibility when it comes to retirement, both financially and emotionally.<\/p>\n While the data shows that working longer can improve both financial security and even physical and mental health outcomes (11), not everyone reaches the age of 70 in perfect health.<\/p>\n Your budget: How do you intend to live in retirement? Working out a comfortable budget should prioritize the activities you want to pursue as well as your living costs while balancing how much you can afford to contribute to your retirement fund today.<\/p>\n Carrying debt into your golden years: If you have a mortgage or personal debts that will not be paid off by the time you\u2019re ready to retire, you should consider working longer until you can retire debt-free.<\/p>\n Your health care costs: While Medicare kicks in at age 65, any long-term conditions may become more expensive as you get older. Also consider the cost of care facilities or in-home services (even any required renovations geared at accessibility) if you plan to age in place.<\/p>\n Overall wellbeing: Many people retire without a plan for how to spend their time when they no longer have a job. When planning for your retirement, think about how you\u2019ll pass the time in a valuable, fulfilling way \u2014 not just how you\u2019ll pay for it.<\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n Empower (1<\/a>); Northwestern Mutual (2<\/a>); PR News Wire (3<\/a>); 24\/7 Wall Street (4<\/a>); LinkedIn (5<\/a>), (7<\/a>); AARP (6<\/a>); CNBC (8<\/a>); Cato Institute (9<\/a>); Reuters (10<\/a>); American Journal of Managed Care (11<\/a>)<\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Baby boomers in their 60s who are reaching retirement age have some serious economic concerns that may be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[19603,28,147,530,1666,1048],"class_list":{"0":"post-414439","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-baby-boomers","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-personal-finance","11":"tag-personalfinance","12":"tag-retirement","13":"tag-retirement-savings"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}